Heartbeat of the rainbow

I like holding trout in the water.

To trout, it must be a lousy experience, but for me, it is a time when I can feel I am being a part of the world. Fish, me, water, rocks, trees, the sky, and the light. All become connected.

When trout is resting in my hand, I can feel his heartbeat through my fingers. It is strange that the water is too cold to keep my hands in it, yet the sign of life I feel through my fingers is strong and warm.

Trout gently breathes through gills, and the strength gradually comes back to his fins. It is a time for him to swim away.

Trout are such a beautiful creatures, and I sometime feel sorry for catching them.


鱒をリーリスする時の感覚が僕は好きです。

魚にとってはとても嫌な経験でしょうが、僕にとっては、魚とか森とか岩とか水とか、自然の中に存在する物達とつながる事ができる瞬間です。

川の水はとても冷たいのに、指先にいる鱒の存在は確かなもので、不思議と温かささえも感じさせます。

僕の手の中で、鱒はゆっくりと呼吸し、尾びれには力が戻り、やがて流れに向かった泳ぎだします。

鱒はとてもきれいです。そのきれいさ故、時に釣るのが忍びなく感じます。

EF 50mm f/2.5 macro

For camera lovers

My friend took me to a camera swap meet today.

I have been looking for a new tripod, so I was hoping to find a nice tripod. unfortunately I counldn't find what I wanted. I saw one which was well made. It was solid enough to be used as a rocket launcher, but it would be too heavy for me to take it to rivers.

Things were mostly old stuff (at least for someone like me got into photography with digital cameras), and I didn't find anything that I can use for my camera apart from one Sigma's zoom lens.

At the end, it was still an interesting morning to see so many old cameras particularly a Hasselblad 500 series with 3 lenses with a price tag of $4800.


カメラのフリーマーケットに友達と行ってきました。
出品されていた物のほとんどが古いフィルムカメラのボディー（ミノルタかペンタックスが多数）かレンズで、唯一僕のキャノンで使えるものはシグマのズームレンズが一つ。

オリンパスのOM-1が日本円で１万５千円位、ハッセルの５００シリーズがレンズ３個付いて４８万。 Leica IIIf (とボディーに書いてありました）は５万円。　この手のクラシックカメラの相場が全く分からない自分にとってはそもそもそれらが安いのか高いのか検討がつきませんでした。　売ってるおじちゃん達はいずれも「バーゲン価格だ」とは言っていましたが。

a test shot with Sigma 24 - 135 mm

Garden flowers part III

EF 50mm f/2.5 macro

Mushrooms and Super Mario

I found these on a river bank.

Mushrooms somehow remind me of Super Mario. I was at a primary school when it came out, and I remember the whole Japanese nation went through "Mario Craze" for sometime.

The other day, I asked kids in our school if they have played "Super Mario Bros" before. Their answer was "No".

Super Mario, Pac-Man, Yoda on the planet Dagobah, etc. They have no idea about what they've missed.

川で見つけたキノコです。ファミコン世代にとってキノコで思い出すのは、なんと言ってもスーパーマリオのクリボーです。




EF 24mm f/2.8

Test shots in the twilight

I had a chance to try Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM last week, so I went down to a local river to take a few shots just after the sunset.

The lens was showing a dark patch on the top right hand corner. I don't know if this was vignetting, or the light was just too dark on the right side when I took shots.


前から気になっていた Canon EF-S 10-22mm を借りたので、夕暮れの川で試し取りをしました。

広角レンズならではの視野の広さに感動しましたが、実際に写真を撮ってみるとレンズに余計な物が入って来るので、構図が難しいと感じました。

それと写真の右上に影が出ているのが分かると思います。　これがケラレによる物なのか、撮った時間帯による物なのかいまいち分かりませんでした。昼間に撮った写真には影は無かったと思います。

欲しいと思っていたレンズなのですが、やっぱり今まで使ってきた24mmの単焦点でより良い写真を撮れる様に努力するとします。

EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 10mm f/3.5, ISO400


EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 10mm f/3.5, ISO400


EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, at 22mm f/4.5, ISO400


Canon EF 24mm f/2.8, at f/3.2, ISO400 on a tripod, cropped

Rod binder and heat-gun oven

I have finally finished making my rod binder.

I did some test runs, and it seems working OK so far except the thread guide. I think I need to improve it to be something better than a flat piece of aluminium as the binding thread tends to get snapped off at the guide.

I used two empty spools of old fishing line as the winder for the drive belt / cord.

The rod blank will be supported by aluminium C-channels while it runs through the binder.





I also got a heat-gun oven yesterday.

It is a one of those ovens which looks and works like a chimney. The heat-gun blows down hot air from the top, and the air goes through an outer pipe, then it comes up through an inner pipe where rod blanks are hung vertically.

I didn't build this oven though. I instead asked a local muffler shop to build it for me. I haven't tested the oven yet, and I am hoping it works fine.

The oven has a removable end cap, so I can clean or check inside of the pipes when it is needed.

バインダーがやっと完成です。　試しにちょっとバインディングしてみましたが、まあまあの結果です。　バインディング用の糸がガイドの角にこすれて切れやすい様なので、ガイドをアルミの板から他の物に換える必要があるみたいです。

あと、昨日マフラー屋さんに頼んであったオーブンが出来上がってきました。熱風を上からヒートガンで送って、上昇する熱風で竹を暖める、煙突タイプのオーブンです。

プレーニング・フォームやバインダーは自分で作れましたが、このオーブンは溶接等の理由で外注です。でもやっぱり餅は餅屋です。うまく作ってあります。